The process of transferring an invalid person from a hospital bed to a wheelchair, to a commode, or to a bathtub in a hospital, nursing home, or home, or assisting such a person in such a transfer, often involves more than one person, is labor-intensive and can be costly. The task frequently requires considerable strength and is occasionally a source of injury to the invalid person or attendant. Further, the task of periodically moving or turning a patient to prevent decubitus ulcers (bedsores) is arduous and fatiguing. These problems often are the major factors that cause a person to be hospitalized or moved to a nursing home, rather than being cared for at home. They also increase the cost of caring for persons in hospitals and nursing homes.
Accordingly, it is the object of the present application to provide novel arrangements of parts or attachments which can be added and attached to existing or new beds (including home or hospital types) or designed into new beds. These arrangements are intended to significantly assist in the following:
(A) the transfer of a person or patient from one bed to a reclining wheelchair or other surface;
(B) the transfer of a person or patient to and from a "tub" arrangement for bathing of the patient;
(C) the transfer of a person or patient to and from a pad surface designed to automatically vary the pressure or reduce the pressure on a person's skin to prevent decubitus ulcers;
(D) the removal and replacement of soiled bed sheets.
The principal object of this present invention is to provide improvements to implement the lateral tilting of the bed surface to shift the weight distribution of a patient in order to promote circulation of the blood and thereby prevent the development of bedsores. This improvement is to be compatible with the normal functions of a hospital bed and with arrangements or attachments to provide the functions A, B, and C above.
A widely used method of preventing bedsores is to periodically change the position of a recumbent patient (e.g. every two hours) to improve blood circulation to parts of the body which are under pressure from body weight. This is a burdensome manual task, particularly in the case of a heavy patient, and it frequently is the cause of back injuries to a nurse or attendant.
An easier method of changing a patient's position is to tilt the surface on which the patient rests so as to shift his position and weight and thereby vary the pressure distribution across his body. Various methods have been used for this purpose, including nets which support the patient above the mattress and which are wound up on rollers on either side of the bed to tilt the patient from one side to the other, and special beds in which the center part of the mattress can be tilted side to side. Most or all of these arrangements interfere to some degree with the normal care of a person in a hospital bed, including the free articulation of the mattress to raise the knees and back of a patient. They also, in general, are not compatible with equipment to transport a person over the surface of a bed on a moving sheet, as described in the parent application.
These disadvantages are overcome in this present invention, in which the entire bed is tilted to shift a patient's position and weight distribution for bedsore protection.
Additional objects and advantages of the present invention will become more evident from the following description of specific embodiments when read in conjunction with the accompanying drawings.